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Monday, February 13, 2017

Crusing the Rhine

After visiting Cologne Cathedral, we had a long day of cruising down the Rhine. The entire day was cool and drizzly, so my photos mostly came out grey, leaving me with some editing to do on these pictures! I was astonished by the amount and variety of industrial boat traffic up and down the river, and as we got closer to Rotterdam, the industrial development along the riverbank.

There were a variety of interesting bridges, old and new.

There were a huge variety of barges proceeding upstream, from coal and container barges to automobile and oil barges. I've simply never been in a location to watch barge traffic like this go by.

The wheelhouses on all these barges would raise and lower in order to fit under bridges.

I presume this barge travelled out into the North Sea, with this survival capsule on board.

At one point I saw 9 barges heading our direction. There's a long-standing set of rules about whether you pass to starboard or port - basically the ship heading upstream has the choice but has to signal that choice to oncoming ships.

We got a visit to the wheelhouse where the Captain explained how they navigate on the river. It's a lot more complex than I would ever have guessed!

Then we got into the industrial area. I have never seen so many different kinds of cranes in my life! Including several large drydock operations.

We even saw a White Stork sitting on this tower along the river.

In order to cut across country to Amsterdam you have to pass through a couple of large locks, leaving the Rhine and travelling by canal to the huge Amsterdam harbour.

The sun was setting as we neared Amsterdam. Then we had two days on our own to just enjoy the city.

I don't know if it comes from reading Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn so many times or what, but rives fascinate me. I had ten times rather go up and down a river as to take a fancy cruise. And I and my brother both LOVE to watch barges!

Hello

This blog started out to document the seasons and the landscape of the Beaver Valley here in one of the most scenic spots in southern Ontario. Since then we've moved to Meaford, in the next valley over, on the Bighead River. Since retiring here we've started travelling more, having more and more adventures. So now the blog will document some of those adventures too and be a combination of local interest and travel adventures.
I have become more and more interested in photography, while pursuing my other love of writing. My blog lets me put them together and keep exploring a little bit every day - hope you enjoy my observations!

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This blog is copyright by the author, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission. All photos on all pages of the blog are by the author. Please contact me if you wish to use a photo.